I just don't trust any police officers..aibu

[Ihateboris]

Yet another predator in the police force. If we can't trust the police, who the hell can women trust?

www.lbc.co.uk/article/police-officer-arrested-lbc-grooming-probe-5Hjdjbx_2/

DH is a police officer and I've met quite a few of his friends and colleagues over the years. I obviously trust him or wouldn't still be married to him, but if anything feel less trusting than I used to be of police officers in general. (Though paradoxically more trusting than I used to be of police forces as institutions.)

Anyway I think (and DH agrees) that broadly speaking people join the police because a) they think it is a useful/ important profession and want to do good and help people or b) because they like feeling important and throwing their weight about. While not all of the second group are actively dangerous/ intending to do harm, and can often be fine at their job on a day to day basis and actually end up doing some good, it does mean there is a larger than average proportion of egotistical knobheads in the police than in the general population. And a not insignificant proportion of those do absolutely join because it provides a good cover. Unfortunately on first meeting an individual police officer it's pretty hard to tell which category they fall into, and the division does seem to be about 50/50...

I'm a doctor - so feel well qualified to judge a profession that appeals to egotistical knobheads and covert abusers as well as to people who genuinely want to help others 😂.

I do think the profession attracts a certain type of person that tend to be abusive, male and female. Given my experiences with them in the case of my partner whose ex was a policewoman I don’t trust them one bit. This will be the tip of the iceberg as well because when police are found out to have done something wrong they are often invited to resign rather than face disciplinary procedures.

I strongly disagree OP.

It’s no different to casual racism where you’re blaming everyone in a particular social group as being equally capable of nefarious activities.

You know that some people in that group will have committed crimes, but assuming everyone in that particular demographic acts in the same way is obviously ridiculous and based purely on stereotypes.

I have two very good friends who are retired now but worked for the MET police. You couldn’t wish for better people to show up in an emergency situation. They are both on the emergency first responders list for our local village and the amount of times they’ve resolved an issue or actually saved someone’s life is amazing.

While sexism, and racism remain a scourge in Society, it will be impossible to stamp it out, in the Police force, or anywhere else, unfortunately.

Vetting is rigorous in terms of checking past allegations, associates inc people who would be suitable due to lived experience not passing vetting because of association by family, finances, social media etc but can’t vet for personalities.

Is it, @professionalcommentreader - i seem to remember at the time Couzens was in the news, the plaintive bleating from the forces was that they couldn't vet everyone properly and there was a backlog. A cursory look at his social media should have had him arrested, not given a job.

The only thing separating police reporting from other professions is that the police are guaranteed headlines and sell advertising when the story is run. A nurse abusing patients, while awful to the same degree, doesn’t generate the same visceral reaction or clicks. What about the numbers of teachers, both male and female, who have abused children. It doesn't even get mentioned anymore. I think if you are basing your idea of "safety" on the clothing the person wears, then you may be vulnerable in other settings.

But it wouldn't if he made even the most basic effort to hide his online identity. Open source checks only work if you have left a trace. So the people doing the vetting will never know what they don't know.

The Scottish forces have vetted 3-400 officers. If we go with the higher number, to be charitable, more than 1 in 10 have been suspended.

So... "it's too hard to check so we don't bother"?

They’re all lazy and useless. My opinion of them couldn’t be any lower.

So who are you going to call if you wake in the middle of the night and hear an intruder?

That's because "doing something wrong" is rarely criminal. And the CPS wont run a case unless there is a realistic prospect of a conviction. And a public hearing is a legal minefield for the force involved if they get it wrong. Being a misogynistic arsehole doesn't mean you're a criminal. And without proof, it doesn't mean you can be fired. Almost every teacher I had was an abusive psychopath. Some, the female ones mostly, were absolutely cruel. But legally they didn't do anything wrong. They knew how to stay on the "right" side of the line.

Well yes. That's the current situation. The cost and time involved would mean never being able to hire anyone.

I work alongside the police a lot (social work) and I do think the rise in numbers of officers being sacked/found committing crimes is increasing not necessarily because there’s more of them, but there’s less tolerance now.

i know a lot of officers that will report colleagues if they aren’t acting correctly. Heck if any of them receive more than a certain amount of money, or say a sports car through inheritance, they have to report themselves to the standards department so they can check the source and make sure it isn’t a bribe.

so I do hold hope that we are seeing a lot of these reports because certain behaviours are now unacceptable, and once the house is a bit cleaner the public will see.

i think many police are now realising you get more results with honey than the stick.

I will call the police because it is their job. It is possible the officers that turn up may be rapists.

Are you ok with that?

And if this is the case I am more than happy to reiterate that I don't trust the police.

Same. My father was in the police for 35 years, most of that in the CID. Most of his friends were police. You would not believe the stories I heard. I think the standard of policing in the UK is getting worse.

Since they likely wouldn’t arrive in time - no one. I’ve got a fucking baseball bat I’ll take my chances.

An ambulance. For the intruder (I have a Malinois) 😂

Eer, ever heard of Lucy Letby?

There are more than 8,000 officers in GMP. A police force inevitably reflects the community from which it is drawn, and while the police do some screening, it certainly isn't enough, and inevitably some bad eggs get through.

I dated a Met officer for 5 years, met all his friends and there were those I would trust absolutely, and others I wouldn't trust with the petty cash.

If stopped by the police or visited by the police, I always take a photo of ID and send it to a friend. After Wayne Couzens, it's just basic common sense, and any officer who has an issue with that is fundamentally dodgy.

I know 3 police officers personally.

One is a male sergeant who coercivelly controls and financially abuses his wife.

One of a female firearms officer, with the least empathy, humanity I have ever known in a person.

One is a male sergeant who is absolutely lovely but a bit lazy.

So 2/3 are rotten.

May of those who were suspended will have been for the most minor things, so the force can show they were doing something. I know of one who had an allegation made against him - which was proven to be untrue because he wasn’t even in the country to have done what he was alleged to have done - and was suspended for 18 months. This wasn’t VAWG related, either.

The force is corrupt from the top. Masonry very common in the force, and they all cover for each other.

It's very different. A certain type of person is attracted to being in the police for the wrong reasons